Vintage Recipes

I've been away for a while because my boyfriend had surgery (very successful) and I was staying with him in the hospital and then helping him afterwards. This meant that I had several days of eating in the cafeteria at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. This was a mighty fine cafeteria, and made me appreciate the Old South in new ways. Fried chicken was available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the cheese grits just kept on coming. I also enoyed a "Potato Log" with one morning's breakfast; I think that is what Tater Tots become when they grow up.

But most of all, there was Jell-O, and lots of it. Now, our office cafeteria offers Jell-O. They are simple cubes of solid-color Jell-O, packaged in a clear plastic cup. Ho, hum. Emory had Jell-O the likes of which I have not seen since my Grandma Violet passed away many years ago. There were loaves and salads and jumbles, with and without fruit. I only wish I'd thought to take my camera with me. I had two that especially stood out. One was colorfully layered, with green on the bottom and red on the top and a creamy ribbon of something like a lemon cheesecake in the middle (probably a Ribbon Salad). But the most amazing was what I now suspect was a Watergate Salad.

It was a plump, pale-green snowball plopped on a crisp lettuce leaf and topped with half a maraschino cherry inside its little clear plastic clamshell. Immediately I was intrigued. The lettuce leaf suggested a cool, refreshing salad, but the cherry screamed "dessert!" It's unusual for me to eat a recipe I can't analyze, but I'm still not sure what all was in there. Definitely pistachio pudding, and almost surely some flaked coconut and crushed pineapple. Possibly some marshmallow action, but no nuts I could discern. There may have also been a bit of lime jello shredded in it. Whatever it was, I loved it. Creamy and sweet but with some tooth to it. I had it on my first day there and never saw it again. I may have to try the recipe on Chef Andy's Jell-O Pages and see for myself.

It made me all nostalgic for Grandma Violet's Orange/Apricot Jell-O Salad with the creamy topping. When I scare up that recipe, I'll definitely post it here.